Eugene schools rank above average in Oregon performance ratings

EUGENE, Ore. - Instead of sending report cards home with their students, public schools in Oregon received grades of their own on Thursday.

Schools were graded using a number of terms, some easier to understand than others. Some in our neighborhood are going above and beyond, while others a falling a little short.

Two of the main categories when grading a school are academic performance and graduation.

Academic performance rates schools on a simplistic measurement - the percentage of students who met common core English and Mathematics standards.

The second category rates schools based on their graduation rates, both with students overall and with priority students in particular.

Growth, achievement and priority student growth are also graded.

"This report card provides the ability to track growth instead of final test scores," said Jen McCulley, Spokesperson for the Springfield School District. "We are definitely going to be spending time as a district evaluating the areas that we can provide greater supports to."

Five total categories rate schools all over Oregon, including Eugene and Springfield.

In Springfield, Thurston High received some of the best scores with above average marks in achievement and graduation. Overall, there is room for improvement for Springfield high schools in most categories.

Most of Eugene's high schools rated higher than average in the same categories. For instance, Sheldon High is rated above average in every single definition, and South Eugene High School scored in the top 10 percent in four of the five categories.

"We've got great families, students and teachers, and we do find that many of our students as a whole do outperform the state average," said Kerry Delf, Spokesperson for the 4J School District.

The school districts are just miles away from each other, but both district representatives declined to speculate as to why the two districts have such different results.